PRIDE

Pride is the space of being unable to admit that you are not always right. It is always pride, lifetime after lifetime, that gets you in trouble, because you do the same things over and over again. When pride has become your master, you never learn.

Sometimes pride comes in the form of fear. If this is the case, you must look deeply into your heart and understand your fears. Is it pride that makes you forget the light in your heart? Recognize pride before another lifetime passes you by.

Ask Pride what it is that it wants to tell you. Pride tells you one of two things at any given moment: that you are the most important person in the world, or that you are nothing at all. The ego’s pride does not take the middle path at any time. It is when we become stubborn and filled with pride that the ego runs wild, and we become filled with pain and attachment. Did you ever want to meditate and then say, “I will sit tomorrow?” This is the ego.

The ego is only as big as you let it become. Once you shine a light on the ego, there is no place for it to run and hide. How do you know the ego exists? The first clue is the feeling of regret – and then comes the pain of anger and pride. We must learn to stop before the ego becomes so big that it cannot squeeze out of the exit door of duality. To find the way out is to develop an intimacy with God.

In spite of falling down into the hold of pride and having repeated failures, you can gradually invite humility into your life. You need strong determination to find the will to give up pride. There are many guidelines on your journey toward giving up pride. For example, in this moment think of someone you are angry with, and send him or her love. Do this even if you do not mean it. Soon your heart will be full, and you will not have time to dislike anyone. You do not have to hang out with those you do not like, but you do not have to think about your anger all day long either.

The mere acknowledgment that you are about to completely abandon yourself to the ego will bring you into the light.

Ma Jaya

Ma Jaya's Sacred Art: Indian Sunset series